


The Scribe

by velvetyred



Series: Bound [1]
Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, F/M, Female Kíli, Gen, In which Kili is a girl, and Ori doesn't consider himself a romantic, but will be addressed if i ever end up writing this AU lmao im so sorry, fem!Kili, let me correct myself - kili is trans!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-07
Updated: 2014-08-07
Packaged: 2018-02-12 03:16:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2093643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/velvetyred/pseuds/velvetyred
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ori is a practical dwarf. The idea of his One is not on the forefront of his mind, never has been. That is, until the name appears on his wrist.</p><p>-Set in a world where the True Name of a dwarf's One is marked on their skin as opposed to their surface name.-</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Scribe

Ori had never had much interest in having a One.

He'd always thought it was sweet when he ran into someone who had a One, of course. Thought it charming when he overheard dwarrows gushing over their destined partner and how great they were. On occasion he'd even read a few legends of great loves that had been forged by Mahal's hammer, but he was no romantic. The idea was nice, but he knew that such things were secondary compared to the essentials. His family, as Dori says, with clothing on their backs, food in their stomachs, and a roof over their heads.  
  
"And good tea." Dori likes to add half-jokingly, smiling with a fresh cup of it in his hands. Dori is right, obviously. No matter how fussy and irritating he can be, he is always right. Ori has other things in his life that outweigh the priority of a dwarf he will most likely never  
meet.  
  
Well, he'd thought as much until the name appears on his wrist one day during his studies. His qwill drops on to the letter he's writing as an energy surges through his veins, burning like fire just under his skin. A sharp intake of breath later he is clutching his arm to his chest. He feels as light as the clouds while at the same time it's as though a great weight is being placed upon his frantically beating heart. His vision blurs until everything is simply colour and Mahal, someone is laughing at him! It is a light and cheery sound, something he thinks he's heard before, but he can not for the life of him identify its owner.   
  
Then the scent of lightly worn leather fills his nose, carefully mixed with cinnamon and a few other spices. It wafts through the air around him and he breathes deeply to fill his lungs with it, finding it oddly comforting through his experience. Hot, warm, hot come the waves. They pulse through the young dwarf over and over for he doesn't know how long. By the time he regains his senses, there it is - a name, boldly written across his thin wrist.  
  
He does not know what to do at first, or what to think. For a while, he just stares. Stares and gently runs his fingers over the mark, feeling the newly engraved skin until he memorizes them. It seems as though an hour has passed when he finally snaps out of the trance and pushes his sleeve over it in favour of picking up his quill again.  
  
As he begins to write once more, he shoves the name into the back of his mind and convinces himself that he will have time for it _after_  his paper is finished.  
  
  
  
Hours into the night, the mark is long forgotten, and Ori sits with Fíli at the bar of a local tavern. Tankards are in front of them both, and they chuckle quietly among themselves in the otherwise noisy surroundings.

"So he has you writing those old things out?" Fíli shakes his head at him, "Mahal, Ori, how do you stay awake?"  
  
"It isn't so bad. They may be old, but they're interesting." Ori shrugs as his friend takes a swig at his drink. "And important. Those texts are our history. If I don't copy them out, they're going to rot in those old pages. Fade and tear before anyone gets to read them."  
  
The tankard thunks lightly on the counter and Fíli looks thoughtful. "I guess you're right. And we won't have our walking history textbook forever, will we?" He grins at Ori's confusion until realization hits the scribe, who gasps.  
  
"Oh, you're just awful!" He smacks Fíli on the arm, but he's smiling at the laughing dwarf. He and the Crown Prince (exiled Crown Prince, Fíli always reminds him with a frown) had become fast friends in their earlier years through their shared history lessons with Balin. Though as the years passed, Fíli's responsiblities grew and Ori's apprenticeship had him at a desk for the good part of every day. They rarely caught glimpses of one another during the day, but by now they had become accustomed to meeting in the tavern every few weeks to wind down and share drinks and stories. It is a comfort to Ori, who usually only had Dori to talk to at the end of the day, sometimes Nori when he was in town. He loves his brothers dearly, but sometimes he craves the company of others. It's nice to be able to talk with Fíli. This is the first time he's done so in a month. Ori assumes he feels the same way, especially when the blond laughs freely with him like he does now.  
  
Ori sips his ale and Fíli's laughter dies down, leaving him with his dimpled smile. A few moments pass, and the older dwarf speaks.

"Hey, Ori." He responds with an inquiring hum, and Fíli continues. "You know, I think you'll be the next walking history resource." He teases.

Ori is quite tempted to hit him again, and he opens his mouth to protest when a brunette of a dwarf pounces on the prince's back and beats him to it.  
  
"Fee! So this is where you've been." Says the newcomer, arms wrapped around Fíli, who just barely manages to keep from being knocked off his seat. Ori recognizes the cheeky smile and wild dark hair.  
  
His ends of his lips turn upwards slightly, greeting their new visitor. "Hello, Kíli. You're looking well."  
  
And by 'well', he means 'less pale and sickly looking than last time'. Kíli was born prematurely, Fíli had told him once, and her immune system is not as strong as it should be. It was a miracle she'd grown into the fairly healthy dwarf she is now, apparently, though she is still more susceptible to sickness than most dwarrows are. It is the reason he had not become acquainted with her until recent years; that, and the fact that she takes her lessons separately from her brother most of the time. So more often than not, she is ill when Ori sees her.  
  
It's odd to him, knowing that such a happy dwarf had spent most of her childhood confined to her bed. The princess of the Durin line meets his light brown gaze with her darker one, cheeky smile still in place. "Hello, Ori! I am very well, thank you." She replies. Fíli has stopped trying to shrug off the younger dwarrowdam, instead looking up at her with a concerned frown.  
  
"Aren't you supposed to be in bed?" He asks, recieving an irritable look from Kíli.  
  
She pouts. "No! Well, yes, but Amad sent me to come get you." She musses up his golden hair and ignores his complaints. "We're having a family meeting, don't you remember?"  
  
Fíli's groaning tells Ori that no, he had not remembered, and he waves off the apologetic look that is directed at him.  
  
"It's fine, Fíli. We can continue this another night." Ori rises with Fíli when Kíli lets go of her hold, patting his shoulder.  
  
"If I survive this night." Fíli mutters, loud enough for only the two of them to hear. Giggles fills the air between them, and Ori's breath catches. It's as light and cheerful as it had been earlier, and he tears his eyes away from the prince to look at the source.  
  
"Doubt it." She says, and she eyes at their mugs. "Are you gonna finish that, Fee?"

As soon as the "no" escaped her brother's mouth, her eyes brighten. "Would be a shame to for it to go to waste!" The dwarrowdam is grinning now, and he can't help but stare as she steps between them to grab at one of the tankards and downs the rest of its contents. Spices, cinnamon, and worn leather greet his nose and leave as soon as they come, following Kíli back to her spot beside her brother. She wipes at her mouth with her sleeve less than gracefully before looping her arm through Fíli's. "We'll be off then. It was nice seeing you, Ori."

With that, she drags Fíli away, the prince shouting promises of treating Ori the next time they meet. Some still functioning part of Ori's brain allows him to send them off with a proper smile, but as soon as they are out of sight it is gone. The scribe hastily rolls his sleeve up to reveal the name he'd so foolishly forgotten about.

It is unchanged, still stark black against his pale skin, but Ori can feel the fire in him again. It doesn't burn and it isn't as intense as before, but it's  _there_.  
  
  
  
And it's still there, when Ori is home in his bed and the sheets are resting just below his chin. He gazes up at the ceiling, his eyes search for answers that aren't there, and silently curses the rapid beating in his chest. He doesn't know how to feel. 

 _Love. Affection._ Something inside him whispers, and he thinks it's the fire. _For her. Your One._

Stubbornly, the youngest Ri turns on his side and fights the images of Kíli's wide smile and her twinkling eyes. "I don't even know her." He mumbles back. There is no reply, and the mark tingles as he succumbs to slumber.

That night - and for many nights after - Ori dreams of a great love, his love, where Kíli's laugh surrounds him and warmth fills his soul.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, all! Boy, I've had this on my mind for a while. I am in love with the idea of Dwarfs having Ones, it's such a cute concept. I also love the idea of a realistic, to-busy-for-love Ori and a happy-go-lucky princess Kili. I thought I'd start out with Ori to set the scene. Kili's is going to be written after this, and then I will get to writing the main story (hopefully before I start school. maybe). :^) Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think!


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